Welcome to In Her Words, New York Festivals Lady Liberty’s monthly interview series celebrating women innovators across the industry. As part of the Lady Liberty Leadership Program, the series offers audiences an opportunity to connect with the voices, ideas, and experiences shaping today’s creative landscape through thoughtful conversations, personal reflections, and an evolving monthly focus.

Meet Chinkara Singh, Chief Production Officer at Havas Health Network. 

A dynamic, creative, and collaborative leader, Chinkara Singh believes that strong relationships, trusted partnerships, and fair, balanced negotiation are at the core of every successful business. Throughout her career, she has spoken on industry panels and contributed to discussions shaping creative processes globally.

Chinkara oversees multiple broadcast departments and manages cross-functional workflows, drawing on deep expertise across production, AI, technology, talent, business affairs, legal contracts, client scopes, and forecasting. A trusted production voice on client calls, she helps guide conversations toward effective production solutions while building enthusiasm around creative outcomes.

Known for expertly managing client expectations, Chinkara has a unique ability to identify and communicate thoughtful alternative solutions when challenges or changes arise. Having been mentored by some of the industry’s top leaders over decades in advertising, she has contributed to award-winning teams across more than 17 agencies.

From building computers at age 12 to helping friends test and explore emerging apps, Chinkara has always been driven by curiosity, innovation, and continuous learning. She remains passionate about mentoring others while pursuing both personal and team growth.

Lady Liberty: What’s something about you that isn’t widely known, but really shapes who you are or what drives you? 

Chinkara Singh: I’m actually a deeply spiritual person and it keeps me grounded in gratitude, perspective, and service.  I genuinely want people around me to win.  I want the work to win.  I want the team to win.  I want creativity to win.  In an industry that can sometimes feel competitive or ego-driven, I’ve always believed there’s room for all of us to succeed.   

That mindset shapes how I lead, how I mentor, and how I listen.  I’m ambitious, absolutely.  But I’m also driven by meaningful  connection and leaving people better than I found them.  A lot of people probably know me for my tenacity first.  Underneath is someone who cares very deeply about people, purpose, and building moments that matter. 

Lady Liberty: What does creativity mean to you today, personally, and professionally? 

Chinkara Singh: Creativity is part of my life’s purpose. To create and leave something behind, to me, is a life well lived.  Personally and professionally, it’s how I process the world and how I heal.  

Lately, creativity has become even more personal for me through making short films and little creative projects with my sons.  My youngest wrote for Mother’s Day “My mom helps me make Lego films,”  and my heart burst.  That’s legacy to me.  Not awards or titles, but inspiring imagination, curiosity, and a voice - even without speaking.   

Professionally, creative storytelling is still the thing that lights me up the most.  I love the intersection of stories, craft, & technology; pushing the boundaries of big ideas.  I want to make new things that feel emotionally true and culturally relevant.   

Lastly, creativity can’t only rely on inspiration alone. It’s resilience. It’s fighting for an idea when it would be easier to make something safer.   

Lady Liberty: How is AI changing the way you approach creativity? And where do you draw the line between it as a tool and your own creative thinking? 

Chinkara Singh: I approach AI with a mix of curiosity and ethics. Working to dream beyond the expected.  For Production, AI is most powerful when it helps unlock possibilities or remove friction.  I use it for repetitive tasks, forms, and making sure my communication leaves no gaps.  It can create speed and momentum - it can get us to set faster.  But the soul of the work still has to come from people.  Human emotion, taste, instinct, nuance, empathy, lived experience.   

AI can help us dream bigger but it shouldn’t replace the reason we dream in the first place.